We are a collaborative team of science teachers in consultation with researchers from the University of Colorado, Boulder and Northwestern University working to create, pilot, and publish NGSS-designed and phenomenon-driven, integrated science middle school storylined units.

 

Our path

 

Our team met as colleagues at Bruce Randolph School in Denver, CO in 2010.  At the time, Bruce Randolph was in turn-around efforts that allowed the school to autonomously operate outside of district mandates, including curriculum and testing.  This gave our science team an opportunity to begin experimenting with NGSS implementation as soon as draft standards became available in 2012 and laid the foundation for our current work.

 

Shortly after the release of NGSS in 2013, our school district, Denver Public Schools, also began several initiatives to train teachers on NGSS best practices and develop internal NGSS-aligned curricula.  Our team was able to be a part of these efforts via the Next Generation Science Exemplar (NGSX) system for professional learning, the biology curriculum co-design Inquiry Hub project with researchers at CU Boulder and Northwestern University, district facilitated professional development units on storylining lead by Bill Penuel of CU Boulder, 3D assessment writing, and utilizing the EQuIP Rubric for science, as well as participating in the NSTA's New Science Teacher Academy.

 

As our knowledge grew we struggled to find true NGSS-aligned instructional materials that were relevant and accessible to our students, so we decided to create our own curriculum tailored to our students' interests and needs.  We hope our journey can inspire and show you what is possible for your students in your classrooms.

 

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our students

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

our community

 

This work would have not been possible without the help and support of our community of thought partners:

• Bill Penuel

• Sara Severance

• Renee Belisle

• Douglas Watkins

• Melissa Boyd

• Michelle Blue

• John Caverly

• Sam Severance